a day of many things pt 2

I managed to dig up some pictures of cakes I mom made back in the day and pictures of her in the process of putting it all together. I was amazed myself at how gorgeous the cakes was. It was intricate and detailed and took a lot of work. It seems that at the time and that was before I was born she made cakes for the Johore royal family. I remembered a friend of hers Kak Asmah was the name I think who used to work with the royal work and she scouted for cake makers and cooks and designers. I think she is a royalty party planner and she would order cakes from my mom.

Here is the first of two slideshows. This one has pictures of the cakes my mom made for the Johor royal family along time ago. It has pictures of her and my aunts decorating the cake. Im still amazed at her how gifted she is in making cakes..

Pretty amazing cakes aren’t they and there are stories to go with all that too. In spite of being very protected my grandfather gave his children the freedom to learn new things like making cakes. He actually sends them for classes and he made sure his girls went to school. I think that and many other things made him stand out from the rest. He even allowed the girls to learn to drive. So I think it was a win win situation for all.

My grandfather had a hand in making those cakes. he drew out and cut the shapes of the crowns for the cake and was the one who made sure that it was in place and insisted that he was even when he wasnt lol sounds so darn familiar again. i think he acted as a consultant to her . My grandad clearly was a creative man and i think he has handed that creative genes to the women of the family cause most of my cousins are in the creative field like painter/artiste, creative director, graphic designers so on and so forth - cool huh .

My aunt told me it irritated my mom when my grandad was asking her to do things his way but my mom listened to him none the less. i think when mom makes cakes with me i think she has feelings of deja vu . echoing my grandfather ... and my mom was my grandads favorite too :D first born what can i say ..

I think one of the things I miss most is hearing stories of their time growing up raising their children and all the fun things they used to do when things were simpler when life was simpler. When my grandmother was better she used to sit with us and tell us stories of her growing up and she could tell us the same stories over and over again we would never get bored. There was something about the olden days that was fascinating. The house that they had on the water in Setulang which is in Johore Malaysia. These days that place has a duty free shopping complex. They had a house by the beach where all and I mean ALL of the family would go during the holidays. But with modernization and land reclamation you lose a whole lot of those simple things …..

After going through the picture cupboard, I found those pictures and pictures of my family & I growing up. I realized I have a whole lot of organizing to do when it comes to family pictures because there are pictures everywhere from different area sheesh another chore to my to do list. Hmmm maybe I could do a scrapbook out of it but before I can I think the most important things is to sort it all out.

The second slide show below are pictures of my grandparents from back in the day. These are just a few of the pictures I have so enjoy ..

I know my uncle has some more back at my grandma’s house so I must remind myself to get those too at least scan them and maybe share it at a later time. My mom told me that while they were growing up they took lots of pictures some were candid and some were done studio pictures. My grandfather use to hire a photographer to take pictures of the family on regular days and special occasions. When the photographer was at the house, he would call all the relatives and they would come over and have their pictures taken. Back in the day women weren’t allowed out that easily so not to let them miss out on life, my grandfather brought life to the house. And when the ladies of the family do go out – they do so with a chaperone or in groups. Those were the days weren’t they … ahh how the time shave changed ..

And the continuation begins here from where I left off – mom’s way of raising me is a mirror of how she was brought up by grandfather. She takes a lot after my grandfather in terms of creativity, personality and what not. And I think in an unconscious way she is treating me like how she was – not a bad thing in this instance – she likes to have things her way and I reckon some people can agree that I am that way sometimes heehee ..

My aunt was telling me about the kind of man my grandmother was. Even though he was well to do and well known he was a humble and down to earth man. He dressed simply and really enjoyed the simple things in life. He loved exploring other cultures and learning new things and he would go all out to learn something new. He is welcoming of people of different races & faith in his home.

She was telling me one day while she was at my grandparent’s house helping my mom make some cakes when my granddad had a call from friend. After that call he immediately cooked fish head curry for his visiting friend. Just like that. when he was serving his guest he asked her to sit and have some to she being the shy person she was she said it was ok but he insisted and he called my grandma too to have the curry with him and till this day she cant forget just how delicious the curry was – yeah my granddad was one heck of a cook and according to my mom he didn’t look at recipes what he made was from his mind. She asked my mom recently if she knew what my granddad put in his curry but my mom didn’t and actually no one does – I was thinking what a waste – it would have been great to know and have a taste of his secret ingredients for his curry .

My granddad has this knack of observing what people do and I think much of what he acquired is through that. Would you believe if I told you he designed my mothers nikah( solemnization ceremony) dress. He saw the dress when he watched an Indian movie and as crazy as this may sound he keeps going back to the show just so he can remember how the dress looks like and when he got it he drew it and got it sent to the tailor. He was definitely one of a kind in his day cause no other men in the family was like him. Here is a picture of the dress ..

According to my aunt, my grandfather was one who couldn’t care for status. He treated everyone as his equal and he had the tendency to share whatever he had especially with guests when they unexpectedly drop in. he would welcome them with open arms and no matter how long they stayed he made sure they were treated well and had something to eat – whatever was available at that time. On Fridays he would cook huge pots of food and give them to the poor. They would queue at the house to get lunch. That was family affair. Everyone pitched in to help.

My grandparents were complete opposites. He was the friendly talkative one while she was the shy quiet one. Amazingly there have been people who thinks that my granddad was an arrogant man but a whole lot more people think otherwise. I guess maybe he looks stern and that’s why people think that way but beneath that tough exterior is a kind gentle sweet down to earth man.

My grandfather was so devoted to my grandma. He took care of her as if she was a princess. He took her all over the world, showered her with a lot of love and affection. Gave her the best in everything and he stood up for her when his siblings were mean to her and the cutest is that he taught her how to drive a car –I just find so cute that my grandma used to drive a car. I guess when I was growing up I never saw that but according to mom she did. She used to drive the kids from their house in Johore to another in Singapore and at that time no passport was required.. suddenly I have this image of my grandmother with sunshades, scarf to hold her hair in place and a bunch of little kids in the car hahah … what a sight go grandma ;)) ..

My aunt said that he took great interest in family. She remembered when she gave birth to her first daughter how he made it a point to visit her on the day itself with grandma. It was night time but he went anyways – I mean it’s probably no big deal to some but the fact that he took the time to see her says a lot about him. He didn’t bring a present but he gave her chocolates which he had in his pocket. Something like a little sweet as token before the real present comes.

She was sharing all the little moments that she remembered about my grandfather and for me it was one of those days when I learn more about him and it makes me smile and then at the same time it makes me sad because it makes me wish he was here cause I think the whole family would be having a grand ole time not like were not but I think it would have been a lot different with him around.

If we felt this way, one can only imagine how grandmother must feel. Her rock the love of her life the one man who loved and cherished her and being brought up the way they were, sharing of emotions is not done very often and my grandmother never spoke of how she felt when he died – but I think her actions and her current state of mind is an indication of how much she loves him and misses him………………………………………….

That was some of the moments I never knew of grandfather and I am glad my aunt told me all about it. Another story added to my family stories vault … J

Nite nite world ..